Section 1 Structural and Equipment Requirements

Conditional approval can only be granted to establishments which have demonstrated they meet the structural and equipment for the activities to be conducted.

The Food Standards Agency can help identify any issues you may have which will compromise your ability to meet the following basic requirements

Section 1.1 Basic hygiene requirements taken from Regulation (EC) No 852/2004

All Premises

Clean premises in good repair.

Size, layout, design, construction & siting must:

(a) Allow maintenance, cleaning, and/or disinfection; Avoid or minimise air borne contamination; Provide adequate working space.

(b) Protect against accumulation of dirt, shedding of particles into food and formation of condensation or “undesirable” mould;

(c) Permit Good Hygiene Practices – particular reference to pest control.

(d) Where necessary, provide suitable temp. Controlled handling conditions of sufficient capacity designed to allow temps to be monitored and, where necessary, recorded.

Adequate no. of flush lavatories connected to effective drainage system. Lavatories must not open directly into food rooms.

Adequate no. of wash hand basins suitably located. Hot & cold running water, cleaning materials and material for hygienic drying of hands.

Sufficient and suitable means of natural or mechanical ventilation. Mechanical systems must be readily accessible. Airflow from a contaminated area to a clean area to be avoided.

Sanitary conveniences to be ventilated (natural or mechanical).

Adequate natural and/or artificial lighting.

Drainage facilities to be adequate for purpose, designed and constructed to avoid risk of contamination. Drainage must ensure that waste does not flow from a contaminated to a clean area.

Where necessary – adequate changing facilities.

Separate storage for cleaning agents/disinfectants from food handling areas.

Specific Requirements in Food Preparation Areas

Design and layout must permit Good Hygiene Practices and protection against contamination. In particular:

(a) Floor surfaces must be sound and easy to clean. Must use impervious, non-absorbent, washable, non-toxic materials (unless etc.). Where appropriate, adequate surface drainage necessary. (b) Sound walls, easy to clean and disinfect. Smooth surface to appropriate height using impervious, non-absorbent, washable and non-toxic materials.

(c) Ceilings and overhead fixtures or interior of roof to be constructed and finished to prevent accumulation of dirt, reduce condensation and growth of undesirable mould and particle shedding.

(d) Windows and other openings to be constructed to prevent accumulation of dirt. Windows opening to exterior fitted with screens which can be removed for cleaning.

(e) Easily cleaned doors – smooth, non-absorbent surfaces.

(f) Surfaces and equipment in contact with food to be maintained in sound condition and be easy to clean.

Adequate facilities for cleaning, disinfecting and storage of tools and equipment. Facilities to be constructed of corrosion-resistant materials, be easy to clean, and have adequate hot and cold water supply.

**Equipment Requirements**

All articles, fittings and equipment contacting food must:-

(a) Be effectively cleaned and, where necessary, disinfected. Such cleansing & disinfection to take place at a frequency sufficient to avoid risk of contamination.

(b) Be so constructed of such materials and be kept in such good order, repair and condition as to minimise any risk of contamination.

(c) With the exception of non-returnable containers and packaging – be so constructed, be of such materials and be kept in such good order etc. – as to enable them to be kept clean and, where necessary, disinfected.

(d) Be installed in such a manner as to allow adequate cleaning of the equipment and the surrounding area.

**Section 1.2 Hygiene Requirements taken from Regulation (EC) No 853/2004**

**Slaughterhouses – Meat from Domestic Ungulates (Red Meat) and Meat of Farmed Game**

(a) Slaughterhouses must have adequate and hygienic lairage facilities or, climate permitting, waiting pens that are easy to clean and disinfect. Equipment must include watering and, if necessary, feeding facilities. Drainage of waste water must not compromise food safety.

(b) They must have separate lockable facilities or, climate permitting, pens for sick or suspect animals with separate drainage, and sited to avoid contamination of other animals – unless the competent authority considers such facilities unnecessary. (c) Size of lairage must ensure welfare is respected. Layout must facilitate ante-mortem inspections, including identification of animals or groups of animals.

To avoid contaminating meat, slaughterhouses must:-

(a) Have a sufficient number of rooms appropriate to operations being carried out.

(b) Have a separate room for emptying and cleaning stomachs and intestines unless the Competent Authority authorises time separation of these operations in a specific slaughterhouse on a case-by-case basis.

(c) Ensure separation in space or time of:-

(i) Stunning and bleeding; (ii) In the case of pigs – scalding, depilation, scraping and singeing; (iii) Evisceration and further dressing; (iv) Handling clean guts and tripe; (v) Preparation and cleaning of other offal, particularly the handling of skinned heads if it does not take place at the slaughterline; (vi) Offal packing; (vii) Dispatching meat.

(d) Have installations that prevent contact between the meat and the floors, walls and fixtures.

(e) Have lines (where operated) that are designed to allow constant progress of the process and to avoid cross-contamination between different parts of the line.

Where more than one line is operated in the same premises, there must be adequate separation of the lines to prevent cross-contamination.

They must have facilities for disinfecting tools with hot water at not less that 82°C OR an alternative system having equivalent effect.

Equipment for hand washing by staff handling exposed meat must have taps designed to prevent the spread of contamination.

There must be lockable facilities for the refrigerated storage of detained meat and separate closable, lockable and cleanable facilities for storage of unfit meat.

There must be a separate place with appropriate facilities for cleaning, washing and disinfection of livestock vehicles. However, slaughterhouses need not have these places and facilities if the Competent Authority so permits, and official authorised places and facilities exist nearby.

They must have lockable casualty slaughter facilities – unless this slaughter takes place elsewhere in other establishments authorised by the Competent Authority, OR at the end of the normal slaughter period. If manure or digestive tract contents are stored, there must be a special place or area for that.

They must have an adequately equipped lockable facility OR, where needed, a room for the exclusive use of the veterinary service.

**Slaughterhouses – Meat from Poultry & Lagomorphs (White meat) and Meat of Farmed Game (Birds)**

Slaughterhouses must have a room or covered space to the reception of the animals and for their inspection before slaughter.

To avoid contaminating meat, they must:-

(a) Have a sufficient number of rooms, appropriate to the operations being carried out;

(b) Have a separate room for evisceration and further dressing, including the addition of seasonings to whole poultry carcases – unless the Competent Authority authorises separation in time of these operations within a specific slaughterhouse on a case-by-case basis.

(c) Ensure separation in space or time of the following operations:-

(i) Stunning and bleeding;

(ii) Plucking or skinning, and any scalding;

(iii) Dispatching meat.

(d) Have installations that prevent contact between the meat and the floors, walls and fixtures;

(e) Have slaughterlines (where operated) that are designed to allow a constant progress of the process and to avoid cross contamination between the different parts of the line. Where more than one line is operated in the premises, there must be adequate separation of the lines to avoid cross contamination.

They must have facilities for disinfecting tools with hot water at not less than 82°C or an alternative system having equivalent effect.

Equipment for hand washing by staff handling exposed meat must have taps designed to prevent the spread of contamination.

There must be lockable facilities for the refrigerated storage of detained meat and separate closable, lockable and cleanable facilities for the storage of unfit meat.

There must be a separate place with appropriate facilities for the cleaning, washing and disinfection of:-

(f) Transport equipment such as crates;

(g) Livestock vehicles.

These places and facilities are not compulsory for (b) if officially authorised places and facilities exist nearby.

They must have an adequately equipped lockable facility or, where needed, room for the exclusive use of the veterinary service. Cutting Premises – Meat from Domestic Ungulates (Red Meat), Meat of Farmed Game and Wild Game Meat

Plants are constructed so as to avoid contamination of meat – in particular by:-

(a) Allowing constant progress of operations,

OR

(b) Ensuring separation between the different production batches.

Have separate rooms for storage of packaged and exposed meat – unless stored at different times or in such a way that the packaging material and the manner of storage cannot be a source of contamination.

Have cutting rooms equipped to ensure compliance with Annex III, Section I, Chapter V, eg.

Work on meat must be organised to prevent or minimise contamination. In particular, operators must ensure that:-

(a) Meat intended for cutting is brought into workrooms progressively as needed;

(b) During cutting, boning, trimming, slicing, dicing, wrapping and packaging, the meat is maintained at not more than 3°C for offal and 7°C for other meat by means of an ambient temp. of not more than 12°C OR an alternative system having an equivalent effect;

(c) Where premises are approved for cutting meat of different spp., precautions are taken to avoid cross contamination, where necessary by separation of the operations on the different spp. in either space or time.

Have wash hand basins with taps designed to prevent spread contamination for staff handling exposed meat.

Have hot water sterilisers operating at not less than 82°C OR an alternative system having an equivalent effect.

Cutting Premises – Meat from Poultry & Lagomorphs (White meat), Meat of Farmed Game and Wild Game Meat

Plants are constructed so as to avoid contamination of meat – in particular by:-

(a) Allowing constant progress of operators, OR

(b) Ensuring separation between the different production batches.

(c) Have separate rooms for storage of packaged and exposed meat – unless stored at different times or in such a way that the packaging material and the manner of storage cannot be a source of contamination.

Have cutting rooms equipped to ensure compliance with the requirements laid down in Annex III, Section II, Chapter V of 853. Eg. Work on meat must be organised to prevent or minimise contamination. In particular, operators must ensure that:-

(a) Meat intended for cutting is brought into the workrooms progressively as needed; (b) During cutting, boning, trimming, slicing, dicing, wrapping and packaging, the meat is maintained at not more than 4°C by means of an ambient temp of not more that 12°C OR an alternative system having an equivalent effect.

(c) Where premises are approved for the cutting of different animal species, precautions are taken to avoid cross-contamination, where necessary by separation of the operations on the different species in either space or time.

Meat may be boned and cut prior to reaching 4°C when slaughterhouse and cutting premises are on the same site providing it is transferred to the cutting room either:-

(a) Directly from the slaughter premises, OR (b) After a period in a chiller.

In such cases meat must be chilled to 4°C as soon as it is cut and where appropriate packaged.

Exposed meat must be stored and transported separately from packaged meat – unless stored or transported at different times or in such a way that the packaging material and the manner of storage or transport cannot be a source of contamination.

Have wash hand basins used by staff handling exposed meat with taps designed to prevent spread of contamination.

Have hot water sterilisers operating at not less than 82°C OR an equivalent system having an equivalent effect.

If delayed evisceration or evisceration of “foie gras” geese or ducks stunned, bled and plucked on farm takes place – the cutting premises must have separate rooms which are available for that purpose.

Section 1.3 CCTV Requirements for slaughterhouses detailed in the Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses (England) Regulations 2018

All slaughterhouses in England are now required to install a CCTV system that provides a complete and clear image of killing and related operations in all areas of the slaughterhouse where live animals are present.

The business operator must ensure the CCTV system is capable of producing images and information for inspection and seizure without interrupting the operation of the system; and is capable of processing images and information of the same quality as the original images and information.

The business operator must ensure that the CCTV system is operational and kept in good working order at all times when live animals are present at the slaughterhouse. Section 2 Food Safety Management System

In order to help demonstrate that your proposed operating procedure does not pose a risk to public health the Agency can advise on the considerations you need to be making in regard to your Food Safety Management System based on HACCP based procedures.

A full set of pre-requisite programmes (HACCP Good Hygiene Practices) will be needed to establish the basic hygiene conditions necessary for the proper implementation of a food safety management system based on HACCP principles. You can insult the Meat Industry Guide for full details and model documents to assist you further.

During the application process the food business operator will need to provide documented evidence to demonstrate how the following requirements have been met.

Water Testing A water distribution plan of the premises showing the point of water entry and the pipework distribution is required with all outlets numbered for identification. Microbiological test results and physicochemical analysis test results on the water used in the establishment are required prior to conditional approval being granted.

Pest Control A pest control bait plan is required along with the records of checks performed and details of any rodenticides/pesticides used (Safety data sheets). Further information is available in the MIG. All external openings must be pest proofed and evidence of annual changes of any UV bulbs/tubes used in electronic fly killers must be provided.

Staff Health Checks Some form of return to work following illness procedure and initial health screening procedure for staff and visitors is required. Records must be maintained.

Establishment cleaning Cleaning schedules giving details of cleaning procedures and the results of checks on the efficacy of cleaning (including any microbiological checks) are required.

Details of Operating Procedures Operating procedures are required giving details of how operational procedures are carried out and how the good hygiene practices programmes will provide the basic conditions of hygiene within the establishment.

Documented HACCP based procedures must be developed and implemented for all products that are based on the 7 HACCP principles. See the MIG for further details. Section 3 Animal Welfare All slaughterhouses need to have procedures in place which safeguard the welfare of animals in lairage and up to the point of slaughter.

Welfare requirements are detailed in Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, the Welfare of Animal at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 and Welfare of Animal at the Time of Killing (Wales) Regulations 2014.

Business operators or any person involved in the killing of animals should take the necessary measures to avoid pain and minimise the distress and suffering of animals during the slaughtering or killing process, taking into account the best practices in the field and the methods permitted. The Agency will be able to explain the welfare requirements detailed in these regulations and the process for obtaining the required certificates of competence for your activities and

What the advisory visit will not include The Agency are unable to recommend specific brands of equipment or products required for your operations.

The Agency will not assume the responsibility for designing the layout of your premises.

For more tailored advisory support it may be beneficial for you to instead engage with an independent industry consultant in your area who can provide a more in-depth support role to advise on how you can run your food business in compliance with the relevant hygiene and animal welfare requirements.